Members of a church congregation near Verulam were held up by armed robbers on Thursday evening.
More than 20 adults and five children attending a church service at the Emmanuel Community Church in Spring Place Tea Estate, were held up by several armed robbers who stole three vehicles from members of the congregation, wallets, cellphones, jewellery and other valuables.
The church service was being streamed live with viewers from South Africa and India when the robbers stormed.
Reaction Unit South Africa’s (RUSA) Prem Balram said they received several calls from members of the congregation just before 8pm on Thursday evening about the incident.
“Our officers arrived on scene and informed that the heavily armed men had locked the children in the toilets while robbing the congregation of valuables,” said Mr Balram.
A member of the congregation, who did not wish to be named, said they were extremely traumatised by the incident.
“We had our guard completely down as we were busy praying when this happened. It is opportunistic and absolutely evil that people would pounce on others who are praying. For our children to be locked in the toilets, on the one hand, was a saving grace as they were saved from the experience. But the trauma of not knowing what was going to happen next and now having to live with what happened to them is just unacceptable,” said the member.
A maroon Toyota Corolla was recovered by RUSA after it was found abandoned in Amatikwe at about 8.30pm and a GWM Steed was recovered by Netstar about a kilometre away in the same area.
One more vehicle, a GWM Hover, is yet to be located.
Police are investigating.